1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure pertains to closure devices and in particular to a device intended to be attached to corks to allow the corks to be reused in such a fashion that the associated bottle can be tightly sealed and the cork preserved without breaking up.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art closure devices have avoided the problem of reusing corks because the corks are somewhat fragile and break into pieces with portions of the cork entering the bottle and resulting in an unsightly accumulation atop the beverage. Particles of cork entering an expensive wine are unsightly and certainly affect the desirability of a wine although normally the taste is not affected. Thus, over the years, it has been the practice to find other means to seal wine bottles in order to avoid the problem of corks breaking into pieces and entering the bottle. Thus, various rubber and plastic closure members have been provided in the industry. However, because of the unique nature of a cork which allows the wine to breath and relieve gases from the bottle, and because of its chemical neutrality with respect to wines, a cork is the natural closure member and the most desirable closure member for resealing wine bottles.
The closure member disclosed in this patent allows corks to be reused by the attachment of the two members provided herein which nestle the cork securely and prevent it from breaking into pieces. Thus, the original cork may be reused many times without the problem of cork breakup or ineffective sealing which has existed heretofore.